Just a Kid
by AKApolarbear
Summary: Sometimes, with all the clue cracking and Carmen chasing, Ivy found herself forgetting that her brother wasn't quite an adult yet.


Ivy heard the sound of footsteps shuffling down the hall and then the creaking of the staircase. Zack was awake. She glanced over at the clock on the wall: 8:30. Huh, she mused. So he actually _had_ woken up to his alarm. To be completely honest, she hadn't been expecting him to.

Last night, Carmen had the two of them working a late night case. Ivy didn't particularly mind the time frame anymore than any other heist the thief had pulled, but Zack was another story. Sometimes, with all the clue cracking and Carmen chasing, Ivy found herself forgetting that her brother wasn't quite an adult yet. Genius level IQ and computer skills aside, he was still a kid. Eventually, all the time zone hopping and extended graveyard shift stakeouts took their toll. It became particularly obvious on nights like last night when he would nearly end up passed out on the couch.

"Morning, little bro." she called out when she heard him stumble into the kitchen. When he didn't answer right away, she looked over her shoulder at him. He hadn't even gotten dressed yet, still wearing his light gray pajamas. However, he had thrown on his usual green jacket over top, so she supposed she had to give him points for that. He wordlessly slipped into a chair at the table and propped up his head with his hand, eyes glazed over and half-lidded. It was almost scary how much he looked like a zombie.

Ivy would be lying if she said she didn't feel bad for him; she remembered when she was his age and first starting out as a full time agent. The work could really wear on a young detective; Zack was just experiencing that first-hand. It kind of hurt to see her brother so worn down, but she tried her best not to show it in her tone. "You sure you're awake, Zack?"

He yawned in response and rubbed at his eyes with the hand that he wasn't using to keep his head off the table. Then, he nodded slowly. "…Yeah. Just…" He made a motion with his shoulders that Ivy assumed was supposed to be a shrug and sighed. "…Really tired."

"Yeah, no kidding." she said, putting on the best smile she could muster. In Zack's own words, a little joking helped take the edge off sometimes. However, this time, humor didn't seem to reach him; there was no reaction at all. She tried not to let it faze her, but she felt her smile falter ever so slightly. "…Can I get you anything?" she tried, leaning back against the kitchen counter. "You want some breakfast? I'm willing to make you something."

He looked up at her for a brief moment and then his eyes drifted down toward the table wordlessly. Ivy wasn't sure if that was a no or not, and she made to ask again when he didn't answer, but before she could, Zack's tired voice broke the silence. "…Can you make some chocolate milk?"

It took her a few seconds to process her little brother's request. Once it had clicked, she couldn't help but to laugh to herself. "Yeah. Of course I can." She shouldn't have been surprised; Zack had always really liked milk, ever since he was little. Chocolate milk was his favorite, but he wasn't picky. He had no qualms over drinking it plain. In fact, he was usually the cause whenever they ran out. However, luckily, they had just picked up a fresh carton from the store the other day, and they still had some chocolate syrup left in the fridge. As she when to retrieve the milk and chocolate, she hesitated and looked back to him. "Did you want anything else, or…?"

He shook his head slowly. "…No. Just chocolate milk."

"Uh, alright then. Just chocolate milk." Ivy repeated aloud as she retrieved the necessary ingredients from the fridge, although it was supposed to be more to herself, rather than to confirm with Zack. Nevertheless, she could've sworn that she saw him nod slightly in response. She set the carton of milk and the bottle of chocolate syrup on the counter, and as she went to grab a glass from the cabinet, she noticed her brother's eyes drift closed. In that moment, she paused with her hand still on the cabinet handle and cleared her throat gently. "…Hey, Zack?"

He raised an eyelid. "…Hm?"

"You know…" she started off slowly, finally bringing herself to open the cabinet and pull out a glass, "if you want, I'll let you head back to bed." She set the glass down next to the milk, trying to choose her next words carefully. She didn't usually do things like this, although looking back, perhaps she should have. "You could probably use a few more hours of sleep."

That must have gotten Zack's attention, because now both eyes were open and his brow was furrowed in confusion. "…What? No, I…" – he paused to stifle back a yawn – "…I'm fine." He then began trying to make himself look more awake by doing things like sitting up a little bit straighter and no longer holding his chin up with his palm. It didn't really matter in the end, though; Ivy could see all the telltale signs of tiredness and exhaustion in his face. One look at the dark circles under his eyes and anyone could tell that he was running on less than the optimal amount of sleep for a boy his age. Even then, he continued on, "Besides…what about work?"

"I'm sure Chief would understand." Ivy told him, beginning to pour his milk. "It's not like you constantly skip work or anything. You'd just be taking a sick day." She then sat the carton down. "I could cover for you."

"But I'm _not_ sick!" he protested. "I'm fine, really! I'm just…" He had to stop mid-sentence; he couldn't hold up his façade of alertness any longer and had to succumb to the desire to slouch over the table and prop his head up. His sister glanced over her shoulder, giving him a look that combined concern with 'I told you so.' In rebuttal, he muttered, "…It's early, okay?"

"Yeah, it's early and you're tired." Ivy threw back at him as she added the chocolate to the glass of milk, now adding a bit of forcefulness to her tone to combat his stubbornness. It had its intended effect; she could see Zack's expression shift slightly from one of protest to one of guilty admittance. He suddenly became very fascinated with the grain of the wood their kitchen table was made out of. "What good are you going to be at work if you end up passing out on the job?"

"But…" His stubborn resolve to go to work that morning was beginning to dwindle as a result of Ivy's well made point and his own mental exhaustion. He racked his mind for a good argument against hers. "What…what if Carmen decides to pull something today? You can't go after her without me; we're partners!"

"Carmen just pulled something last night, little bro." she pointed out, setting his glass down on the counter while she went to grab a spoon to stir with from the drawer. "You know as well as I do that it's not her style to pull two heists back to back like that."

Zack choked back a noise sounding somewhat similar to a whine. "Well, yeah, but…" He began fumbling with words, trying to find some way to convince his sister that he was perfectly capable of going to work. Failing that, he decided to go back to his original plan of general protest. "Ivy, I'm fine! Just…" He paused, trying to disguise an urge to yawn as a mildly put-off huff. "Just let me go to work."

Ivy rolled her eyes; now this was just getting ridiculous. "Zack, I swear…you're the only kid I know who would fight this much against getting a day off." She took the glass and spoon, turning to face her brother as she started stirring the milk and chocolate syrup together. "What is this about?"

"This is about me not _needing_ a day off! I'm completely fine!" he insisted, crossing his arms tight to his chest and giving his sister a glare. Ivy had to wonder if he realized that he was pouting or not. He remained silent for a moment or two until he could no longer maintain eye contact, and instead chose to watch the glass of milk turn from white to brown. His gaze softened and he sighed. "…I'm not a baby. You don't have to treat me like one."

Ah, so _that's_ what this was all about, she thought to herself. Ivy took a moment to plan out her words before speaking. "Zack, you're fourteen. You deserve a break every now and again."

"I'm still an ACME agent. I went through the exact same training you did." he refuted, still having a little bit of fight left in him. However, one could tell he was just about to crack; his tone was nowhere near as stubborn as it had been two minutes prior. His shoulders slumped, but Ivy couldn't tell if it was in defeat or from general weariness.

"Yeah, and when I was your age and I was first starting to work cases, I had the same problem. I got tired too, Zack, and sometimes I had to take sick days just because I couldn't get up the energy to go to work." she told him. Then, there was a silence between them, and the only noise was from the clinking of the spoon against the glass as she stirred his chocolate milk. After a minute of neither saying anything, she removed the spoon and sat the glass on the table in front of him. She gave him a hard stare and finally spoke. "…Just take the day off."

Zack didn't say anything at first, but as he reached for his glass he shot her a look of stubborn forcefulness that she assumed he had picked up from her. "If anything big happens, you better call me in."

A feeling made up of a combination of satisfaction, success, and relief washed over Ivy, but she did a pretty good job of controlling the emotions swelling inside her. After all, she didn't want Zack to think that she was 'babying' him. Instead, she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms before replying sarcastically, "Right, because heaven forbid you miss out on any of the action."

"I mean it, Ivy!" He pointed his finger at her, apparently to try and force his one condition home. "If anything important happens – _anything_ – you better let me know! Got it?" He must not have appreciated her snickering at his attempt at sounding like an adult, because his eyes narrowed and he repeated himself with more emphasis. "_Got it_?"

"Alright, fine." she answered, if only to appease him so he would stay home and get the rest that he needed. "If anything major happens, you will be the first one to know." She even held two fingers up and put her hand over her heart. "I promise."

He seemed pretty pleased with that answer, and he leaned back in his chair. "You better. After all, what partner could they possibly assign you better than me?" He grinned.

"Oh, I could probably think of a few." Ivy said, adopting her own playful smile. "There's Marco, for one."

"Marco?" Zack scoffed and rolled his eyes. "_Please. _You're only mentioning him because you think he has a cute accent and nice hair." He took a nice, long drink of chocolate milk, draining nearly half the glass, before continuing. "Face it, Ives. I'm the best partner you've ever gotten. I guess it's not really surprising, though. I mean, I am pretty awesome." Ivy didn't respond. Instead, she began snickering, which eventually evolved to full blown laughter. His grin fell and he gave her a look of oblivious confusion. "What? What's so funny?"

She managed to control herself for a few moments, just long enough for her to respond, "Nice chocolate milk mustache, Mr. 'Awesome'!" She then broke back into her laughter upon seeing her brother's face change to that of embarrassment as he cried out, 'Wait, _what_?!' and began frantically wiping at his mouth.

Even though Zack could act a lot like an adult sometimes, Ivy had to admit, he was _definitely_ still just a kid.


End file.
